Vehicles are designed and tested for impact worthiness. Frontal impact tests previously focused on impacts with objects engaging both frame rails, centrally located between the frame rails of the vehicle, or to engage only one of the frame rails. The bumper beam of a vehicle is generally secured to the vehicle frame through crush cans, or other intervening structures, that are designed to absorb straight on impact energy during frontal impact tests.
Recently, more stringent standards have been proposed that are designed to test a frontal vehicle impact with an object, such as a radiused wall, that is located in the outer one-fourth of the transverse width of the vehicle. Impacts in this area may be outboard of the vehicle frame rails and outboard of the current intervening structures, yet remaining inboard of other vehicle structural members such as rocker members. The impacting object may intrude into the vehicle quarter panel and the rocker member that by itself may not provide as much energy absorption as the vehicle frame provides in a frontal impact centrally located across or between the frame rails or impacting one of the rails.
There is a need to improve the crash worthiness of the vehicle when impacting a laterally offset object. This disclosure addresses the above problems and challenges relating to vehicle design as summarized below and with reference to the illustrated embodiments.